


Danganronpa Revival

by LastDreamWoven



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa: Another Episode, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Gen, Hiatus - Sorry! u_u, Probably Spoilers for DRAE, Spoilers for DR1, Work In Progress, spoilers for sdr2
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-02
Updated: 2016-03-31
Packaged: 2018-05-24 09:43:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6149512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LastDreamWoven/pseuds/LastDreamWoven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The survivors from the first school life of mutual killing wake up in Hope's Peak Academy again, and they soon find out that they aren't the only ones. Monokuma refuses to explain how the dead have been brought back, but they have, and now most of the students from the school life and school trip are set to kill again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Sunset of Hope, Dawn of Another Despair [Part 1]

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Danganronpa or any of the characters in this story. 
> 
> I have mixed preferences on calling the characters by their first and last names, but for consistency's sake, I will be calling the DR1 survivors by their last names and everyone else by their first names.
> 
> I have recently edited the story by adding spaces between the paragraphs (to make it more readable), so sorry if I missed any or if I spaced in the middle of a paragraph on accident. Just ignore it ;)

S1: Maizono Sayaka  
Sayaka opened her eyes, but she saw only darkness. Blinking, she noted that there were no differences between the lighting in the room and the blackness when she closed her eyes. She got the subtle feeling that the room was rather small, though she couldn't tell because of the lack of light. Despite this, there didn't seem to be a confining atmosphere. There didn't seem to be anything special about this place at all. 

The idol sat on the floor with her back against a wall. Her stomach hurt, but the pain was dull, and she shrugged it off as hunger. She felt slightly tired, with her breath coming in quick bursts and a feeling of panic coursing through her. Sayaka pursed her lips before trying to focus on calming herself. Her breathing slowed and her confused, running thoughts did as well. Still, she had no idea where she was, how she had gotten there, or if anyone else was there with her. 

She pushed herself up, feeling a jolt of pain as she did so, and stood with her heels still against the wall in order to orient herself. She rubbed her right wrist, which was throbbing slightly, and started to look around before remembering that it was useless. Carefully, she spoke. 

"H-hello?" Her bright voice rang out around the room, slicing through the silence. She winced at the sudden loud sound, then fell quiet to wait for a response. She didn't get one. Sayaka walked forward wearily, placing each step tentatively as if the floor would collapse beneath her. Still unable to see, she figured that her best bet was to just walk forward until she reached something. She held her hands out as an attempt to navigate.

It took a little while for her to hit something, since she was moving slowly, but she eventually touched something. "Ah... a door?" she wondered aloud. She reached up until she found an indent and traced the line to the floor and back around until she hit the floor again. There didn't seem to be a doorknob. She nearly panicked again, until she heard a voice.

"Maizono Sayaka entrance exam completed. Student count is now six."

She gasped slightly when the door swung open and light hit her. She ran forward as the door shut behind her, though she still couldn't see where she was going due to the sudden brightness, and she tripped on an object near the center of the new room she had entered. The idol fell forward, only to land on a soft mattress. Her eyes adjusted to the light and she looked down to see that she had fallen onto a bed. Surrounding her were red walls, beneath her feet was a blue carpet, and all around her was a familiar place. 

"This is... Hope's Peak..." Sayaka choked out the phrase. "I can't... I can't believe it. This is Naegi's room!" She stood up and spun, looking back in the direction she had come. There was a door right behind her, the one she had come through. With sudden energy, she skidded to the door and pulled it open the way Naegi had taught her more than a month before. Inside was the shower room. There was nothing special about it, just as there hadn't been before. But thinking back to the position she had been in, what had hurt, and how she felt sent a chill down her spine. 

Sayaka gulped and looked around again. Above her were a moniter and a security camera, just as there had been before. She assumed the voice had come from the monitor. What had it said?

"Maizono Sayaka entrance exam completed." She repeated the statement. "Student count is now six."  
Then there were other people here? She had to find them. With wavering steps, she headed towards the room's door. 

S2: Naegi Makoto  
"Naegi... Wake up Naegi."

Naegi slowly opened his eyes. His head rested on his arms, which were folded in front of him on a table. He was sitting in a chair, slumped over like a student who had fallen asleep in class. Despite his blurry vision, he could just recognize Kirigiri's purple jacket and strands of her lavender hair, and he shifted his gaze upwards to see her looking down at him.

"I've been trying to get you to wake up for a few minutes," she commented.

Naegi sat up with an apologetic look. "Sorry Kirigiri."

She sighed. "Well, I guess there is no real way that you could have controlled when you woke up." She looked away, and he sat up in the chair. His vision was clearing quickly, and he blinked a few times before glancing back at her. She seemed somewhat lost in thought, so Naegi followed her gaze, and then a sudden look of surprise crossed his face. Kirigiri looked back at him. "So, you've noticed?"

On the wall that they had turned to, there was an iron plate. Naegi looked around in shock to notice that there were others, as well as no windows. In addition, he and Kirigiri were in a classroom. He jumped out of his chair as Kirigiri walked over to the plates. 

"They're the same as they were," she remarked.

"Y-yeah..." Naegi closed his eyes in disbelief. There was no way that they could be back here. Hope's Peak Academy... this was definitely it. The same place where the school life of mutual killings had taken place. They couldn't be back here though, could they? Naegi grimaced, opening his eyes again and looking again at the classroom. But there was no mistaking it. It was the same place, and it remained mostly unchanged from how it had been back then. 

"Togami, Fukawa, and Hina have already left to explore more of the school," Kirigiri said. "I suggest that we follow them. It doesn't seem that there's anything here that's more suspicious than it had been the last time." She turned towards a door, walked to it, and exited the classroom. 

Naegi followed her out into a hallway. If the identical rooms hadn't been enough, the hallway confirmed that it was the Academy. He looked back through the open doorway to the classroom, but something next to the frame caught his attention. It was a plaque. 

"Classroom 1A," he noted. "We know where we are now, at least."

"I suspect that after some time here, we'll be just as accustomed to the place as we were. If you think of any room, you'll be able to remember the way there," Kirigiri murmured. "For now, I'm going to the cafeteria. It's most likely at the other three haven't found anything of particular interest other than that we're in Hope's Peak. They might be headed there too."

Naegi just gave a simple nod in return. He chose to follow her as she walked away. "What do you think we're here for?" he asked.

"It's hard to think of a solid reason," she responded. "The first thought that comes to mind is a killing game. The issue with that idea is that we can't do a killing game with only five people."  
"Right." He paused. "Wait, five people? And you mentioned Togami, Fukawa, and Hina earlier... where's Hagakure?" 

"We don't know, but he may have simply been left out of this for some reason." They reached the cafeteria entrance and went through. As Kirigiri had guessed, the other three were already there. They looked over as the two came in.

"Hi!" Hina chirped. "You find anything interesting?"

"No. We came straight from the classroom, so we didn't look around other than at the halls we came down." Kirigiri replied.

"We didn't find anything either. Not that we searched for very long. It was obvious that there is nothing new for us to see here." Togami reported. "Yet."

"Do any of you know why we're here?" Naegi asked.

"I-it's probably another killing game!' Fukawa whimpered.

"It's too early to assume that, though you may be right." Kirigiri stated. "However, I doubt that a killing game would play out very well with only five people."

"Maybe someone else is coming?" Hina wondered. "Dunno who it could be but it's possible!"

"Wh-who else could they possibly put in here?" Fukawa asked.

Naegi hesitated. "Could it be the Remnants of Despair?"

No one spoke for a while after that. They still weren't completely sure of the state the Remnants were in ever since they left the Neo World simulation. At best they were completely reverted to their original selves. At worst they were in the same states they had been in while they were part of Ultimate Despair. It was still uncertain which memories they had kept - whether it was their time as a part of the group, their lives before that, or both.

"There are five of them too." Kirigiri recalled. "I could see a mutual killing with ten people, but it's still unlikely considering we have always had fifteen or sixteen people before."

"It certainly wouldn't surprise me if we had more or less than that this time." Togami said.

Suddenly, a monotoned but loud voice spoke up. The sound seemed to be coming from the monitor in the room. "A student has finished their entrance exam. Student count is now six."

"Hmm? What was that about?" Hina demanded.

"Y-you're asking m-me?" Fukawa hissed.

"Student count is now six? There must be someone else here then." Kirigiri immediately left the room to go search. Naegi left as well to help her, and Hina followed a few moments later. Togami didn't leave, so Fukawa didn't either.

"D-do you think that we're actually in another mutual k-killing?" Fukawa stammered.

"Probably. It will be fun to see how this game plays out."

S3: Celestia Ludenberg  
The first thing Celestia noticed was that her whole body hurt. It was more of a dull throbbing than a piercing pain, but it was discomforting to the point where she shifted around in agitation. She opened her eyes, but there was nothing in front of her and nothing around her. It was pure darkness. 

She was standing with her back to a thin wall and her hands clasped in front of her. Her body felt stiff, to the point where even the thin smile on her face felt plastered on. Her thoughts seemed fixed on something, but she couldn't figure out what. It was an odd situation to find herself in, so she stayed mostly still while she tried to find out what she was doing there. 

The smile on her face faded as she dropped whichever facade she had been putting up that would cause it to be there. Celes decided to focus on getting out of the darkness she was in, but the moment she did, a burst of fear swept through her. She gasped in a panic and left the peaceful position she had been in. The fear faded quickly though, only having been there as recoil from hiding it, from burying it behind thoughts of nonchalance. She hesitated, almost expecting the fear to come back. But it didn't, so she continued to focus on the topic at hand.  
The gambler turned around and touched the wall she had been standing by. She noticed with shock that it wasn't a wall, but instead, a stake. Though no one could see her, she created a mask of indifference before turning back towards the way she had been facing before. Her mind was hazy, and she knew that she was missing something. Why was there a stake here? Why did her whole body hurt? Why had she been afraid? She pushed the thoughts down for the moment and took a step forward.

Her foot landed on solid ground. She took a breath and continued forward slowly. She was confused, but her curiosity was growing, so she sped up slightly only to bump something. Holding out her hand, she touched wood. It had a slightly crumbly feeling, rough and covered with some sort of powder. It wasn't soft like sugar or rough like salt, but slightly in between. There was no doorknob, so she pushed against it. It still didn't open. With a sigh, she began to leave it. She stopped when she heard a voice.

"Celestia Ludenberg entrance exam completed. Student count is now eight."

The door opened, and Celes closed her eyes. There was a brightness even behind her closed lids, and she walked forward into it. With a creak and a slam, the door closed behind her. The gambler waited a little before opening her eyes again, and when she did, she turned to see that she had come from a wooden door set in a red wall.  
"Different than you remember, huh?"

Celes turned to see a red haired boy with a white jacket. "Yes, Leon, it is."

What they were standing in was a trial room. However, unlike the trial room of the school life of mutual killing, this trial room had twenty-seven places. The room itself was far larger as well. Celes was standing in one of those places, and Leon was standing on the other side of the circle. He spoke up.

"Last thing I remember, I was hanging out with Sayaka. Well, Sayaka's ghost, anyway. Then I was in this dark room standing by a post, with my wrists, ankles, and legs sore and feeling like I had just been pummeled. I walked forward and got to a door, but it had no knob. This voice spoke up and told me that I had completed my entrance exam and that there were now seven students. I was completely confused! Few moments later, I heard another announcement saying that someone finished their entrance exam, so I looked around. That's when I saw you."

"Intriguing." Celes mumbled. "It seems that my suspicion was confirmed then. You were in the state that you were in when you finished your execution, albeit toned down a ton. I was too. While I was in the room, my mind was super foggy, but when I stepped out, I realized that that's what it must have been."

Leon nodded. "Same for me. But that isn't important right now! I want to know-"

"A student has completed their entrance exam. Student count is now nine."

The announcement was sudden, but Celes and Leon both looked around immediately. A door opened on the wall next to them, and out came Mondo. He covered his eyes as he came out, but after a while, uncovered them and looked at the two who were already here. 

"Hey, what the hell was that?" He yelled.

"Quiet down. It happened to us too." Celes frowned at Mondo's shouting.

"I was in this dark ass room, and I was on a motorcycle. I was also in this round, cage like thing, but the door was open so I just walked out of it. Then I tried walking around to find a way out, but I was dizzy as hell! I eventually found this door, and this voice told me that I completed an entrance exam. It said something about nine students... are you some of 'em?"

"We are." Leon confirmed.

"Well then, what the fuck is this place?"

"How would we know?" Celes chided. "All we know is what we see. This seems to be a trial room, likely for a class trial."

"Why would there be a class trial room?"

The gambler let out an exaggerated sigh. "It's simple, really. This is a killing game and we are in it."

S4: Naegi Makoto  
Naegi looked up when the monotone voice spoke again.

"A student has completed their entrance exam. Student count is now seven."

Kirigiri and Hina stopped too. Again, the voice was coming from a monitor in the hallway, but there was no image on the screen. 

"People are joining quickly," Kirigiri remarked. "It would be best if we could find out who they are."

The three rushed through the halls, barely noticing when a girl stepped out of one of the rooms. Hina crashed into her, since she was in the lead, and the other two skidded to a stop. 

"Ow!" Hina cried. She pushed herself up and glanced down at the girl she had ran into. 

Sayaka rubbed her head before standing and looking around. She had recovered from her previous nervousness. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at them all in relief. "Naegi! Kirigiri! Asahina! I'm so glad there are people I know here!" She tilted her head as if in thought. "Hmm, I'm getting deja vu." Then she closed her eyes and smiled. "I thought I would be here with other random creeps, but now that I see you all, I feel better!"  
Naegi stared in shock. "S-sayaka! But-"

"Unfortunately, yes. I did die. But you know what, I'm not dead anymore!" Sayaka laughed. "Not for the moment, anyway. I don't know how it happened, but I'm super hyped that it did!"

Naegi was speechless. Hina's eyes were wide, but Kirigiri still looked unphased.

"Well it's nice to see you again Sayaka. Do you know why we're here?" 

"No. Do you?"

Kirigiri shook her head. "We're in the academy again though, which implies that we'll be forced to partake in another mutual killing."

"It does?" Sayaka questioned.

"After you think about what other possibilities there are, yes."

"I guess so." She paused. "Hey, are you all meeting up in the cafeteria again?"

"We are."

"Then I'll head there! See ya!" Sayaka turned and walked away with a little spring in her step. Kirigiri watched her go for a little before turning back to Naegi and Hina. Hina smiled, and Naegi still looked shaken, but they both seemed ready to go again. They all went in the opposite direction that Sayaka had gone at a brisk pace.

"This doesn't seem real," Hina scoffed.

"That's right, it doesn't." Kirigiri responded. "On the other hand, we don't know if it is. That Sayaka we saw could be some kind of animatronic, or we could be in some kind of simulation. She did leave rather quickly."

"But she seemed real!" Naegi protested. "She was probably just nervous about the whole situation."

"We all are," Hina sighed. "But that doesn't stop us! Let's keep looking for more people."

"A student has completed their entrance exam. Student count is now eight."

They continued to walk by the dorm doors, going around the corner and past the dorms of Leon, Hagakure, and eventually Hifumi. However, instead of stopping there, another hall seemed to have opened. More doors lined the walls of the long corridor.

"Why would there be another hallway?" Naegi wondered. "Does that mean that there are way more students than we thought?"

Kirigiri nodded. "It seems. Though that isn't the only difference." She went and stood next to one of the doors. "Look. The nameplates no longer say our names. They only have our pictures." She pointed out the nameplate, then pointed below it. "Here is a card reader. This and the lack of doorknobs means that we won't have room keys anymore. We'll probably be using the e-handbooks to access our rooms."

"Okay! But when are we getting our e-handbooks?" Hina asked.

"I'm not sure."

"A student has completed their entrance exam. Student count is now nine."

"Well, why don't we go look around some more?" Naegi suggested.

The other two nodded in agreement and they walked away.

S5: Celestia Ludenberg  
“What the fuck!” Mondo yelled.

“We still don’t know!” Leon protested. “Another killing game? I mean, we’re all already dead! Don’t you think you’re stretching it?”

“Do you have any other ideas?” Celes demanded. “I suggest you get used to this one.”

“You’re preaching about adapting again,” Mondo growled.

Celes giggled. “I’m not preaching. I am simply saying. Besides, it is true.”

“Hey guys, don’t you think we should leave the trial room now?” Leon asked. “If everyone is respawning at their death sites, then we’ll be the only ones coming here.”

Celes and Mondo both glanced over and murmured their agreements. Then they all went to the door for the elevator and stepped in. It was a long way up, just like it was a long way down, but it didn’t seem to take as much time. Despite anxiety over lack of knowledge about the situation, they felt better than they usually did riding in the elevator. Usually, they would be riding it after seeing a friend’s death, whether they were killed or executed. There wasn’t much conversation asides from Leon pointing out that he had never been on the elevator ride up, with Celes sighing and Mondo huffing in response. They finally reached the top after an eventless wait, and the doors opened. They went past the room that the elevator opened to and into the halls. 

“Since we know where everyone will be, we should probably go to meet some of them. How about we go to our victims’ locations?” Celes said. 

“Sure, but will you two even be able to reach yours?” Leon questioned. “What if the other floors are blocked? And on that note, will I be able to reach mine? I doubt I’ll be allowed to break into Naegi’s room.”

“Well if the other floors are blocked, then the victims of our cases should be screwed as well. And twenty-seven people sure can’t live comfortably on just one floor!” Mondo ranted.

“It’s a school, I’m sure that they can-” Celes paused as the biker glared at her. “Adjust?” She finished. “What do you have against my adaptation speeches?”

“They make you sound like you don’t care whether anyone gets out! Like you’re some kind of indifferent scum or something.” 

“Oh, you will be the first to die,” Celes warned. “Why are you making that scary face? I thought it was obvious from my tone of voice that I was simply making an idle threat.”

“Well we know who the fuck we’re going to suspect if I do,” Mondo retorted.

“You lose your calm quickly.” Celes observed. “Again, it’s an idle threat.”

“Hey, someone’s coming!” Leon exclaimed, interrupting their argument. They all fell silent as they heard approaching footsteps. There seemed to be three people coming, all walking. They talked amongst themselves.

“Sayaka came out from your room, didn’t she Naegi?” Kirigiri inquired.

“Yeah,” he replied.

“I don’t have proof yet, but I think that it could be speculated that everyone takes some sort of entrance exam at the site of their death.” 

“What about the blackened?” Hina wondered.

“They’re probably gonna come out from the courtroom,” Naegi suggested.

“Yeah, we came from the courtroom,” Mondo confirmed as he stepped around the corner and met with them. Celes and Leon came after him. Celes smiled, while Hina beamed when she saw them. Naegi waved, Kirigiri nodded in acknowledgement, Leon grinned, and Mondo smirked. “Sup!”

“Hi~!” Hina greeted. “Remember me? I’m Aoi Asahina~”

“Remember? Of course we do. I check in on all of you guys all the time,” Leon said.

“Huh? I don’t,” Mondo grunted.

“Nor do I, but I should think that we all remember you either way.” Celes laced her fingers and held her hands like a platform below her chin. “After all, we went through such a terrible and unfortunately memorable ordeal together.”

“Nice to see you all again!” Leon laughed.

“See? They seem very real!” Naegi declared.

“We should dump water on them to see if they’re robots!” Hina teased.

“Dump… water?” Celes frowned. “That’s a terrible idea. Don’t do that.”

“Everyone is going to meet at the cafeteria. You can either help us search for people or go there and wait,” Kirigiri explained. “Naegi, Hina, let’s go find others.”

“Right.” Naegi nodded and waved goodbye to the three blackened. The survivors headed away. Celes watched them leave, then turned to Mondo and Leon.

“I’ll be going to the cafeteria. I haven’t had tea for the longest time and I must taste it again.”

“I’m coming too,” Leon said. 

“I’m gonna go wait for Chihiro to finish his exam. See ya.” Mondo walked away down one hallway and the other two walked down another. They chatted a bit, but it was mostly small talk. They soon reached the cafeteria and walked in.

Togami and Fukawa looked up at them as they entered, and Sayaka grinned as they came in. 

“Celes and Leon!” she chirped. “I’m really glad to see that I definitely won’t be surrounded by strangers.” With a giggle, she continued, “I’m also glad that I know your names and who you are. No memory erasing this time.”

“Hello Sayaka,” Celes said. “Have you already concluded that this is a killing game repeat of the one we were in before?”

The idol sighed. “I really don’t want it to be, but I think it will be.”

“I agree with the second part of your statement,” Togami offered. “And I want to know how many people will be involved.”

“There will be twenty-seven.” Celes informed them. “Leon, Mondo, and I woke at the trial room, and we counted the places. Excluding Monokuma’s spot, there are twenty-seven.”

“And does that include whoever the first victim is?” Togami asked. “We won’t have a trial without a victim, so it might.”

“I dunno, but twenty-seven versus twenty-eight? There’s hardly a difference!” Leon scoffed.

“There is if you’re talking in millions. Or billions. Or anything above that.”

“Y-yeah!” Fukawa agreed. “Byakuya-sama is right!”

Leon scowled. “Well we’re not counting in billions or millions or whatever other number you’re gonna put up. We’re counting in ones, and we’re counting people. So there’s hardly a difference!”

“If there are twenty-eight, then there’s one other idiot that we have to deal with.”

“Man, do you have to say something bad about everything?”

“I think you’re that one extra idiot.”

“Well, there are probably only twenty-seven,” Celes interjected. “In our previous trial room, there were sixteen stands. There was certainly a spot for the victim, though they wouldn’t be there.”

“Doesn’t the victim get a signpost with their face on it?” Sayaka questioned. “There has to be a spot for their signpost! So there are twenty-seven people.”

Leon glared at Togami but decided to give the situation a rest. Celes looked around and frowned. Yamada wasn’t here, and though she could resort to Naegi, he wasn’t here either. There was no one to make her tea. Togami was a prick, Fukawa only listened to Togami, Sayaka was too clueless, and Leon was too proud. Like Leon, she had to give the idea a rest for now and wait for more people to come.

S6: Naegi Makoto  
"A student has completed their entrance exam. Student count is now ten."

Naegi, Kirigiri, and Asahina continued to wander through the halls. 

“That was probably Chihiro,” Kirigiri guessed.

Naegi nodded. “It’s nice being able to see everyone again.” 

“Perhaps you can ask Sayaka about what we talked about after her trial.”

Naegi stayed silent for a little while, as if in thought. “Yeah. I will.”

They were all quiet for a while after that. They all seemed to be thinking about the dead, and how them being alive again, even if it was just for a little while, would affect everyone. For some, like Togami and Fukawa, it likely wouldn’t have an affect at all. Neither of them had really had a friendship with any of the fallen. But for people like Naegi and Asahina, seeing the dead again would be a chance to talk to the people they had known. Naegi had been surprised by Sayaka’s sudden appearance, but he was legitimately excited to be able speak with her again. He suspected that Hina felt the same way about Sakura.

“So, do you guys know how this is happening?” Hina abruptly asked. “If this is really all real, then doesn’t that seem weird? How could the dead just come back to life?”

Then, a voice spoke up that they had all hoped they would never hear again. It was a cute voice, but it was tinted with malicious intent and an evil tone. It spoke softly at first, but the sound crescendoed as a laugh rang through the halls. 

“Upupupupu… ahahahah!” A collective groan answered it. “What?! Why aren’t you excited to see me?!” In front of them was a bear. His right side was white with the cuddly face of a stuffed animal, but his left side was black with the face of an evil robot gone wrong. He slouched forward, and his right side bore a dejected expression. “I thought you all would be happy! That’s why I took the time to appear in front of you instead of on a screen! But now you all look like you want to kill me!’ He tilted his head, the sad look completely gone. “But maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Just direct that murderous intent to someone else! Break, Burn, Paralyze, Move, Dance… wait, wrong thing?” His obnoxious laugh started again. “Upupupu! I don’t care! But that isn’t really why I’m here. I’ll clarify it for everyone when we all gather in the gym later, but for now I’ll just tell you! You should feel privileged! Specially privileged! Ultimately privileged! Look here kiddos, they’re alive now, no questions! Upupupu!” With that, he waddled away, turning a corner and vanishing. 

“Aww man! I thought we got rid of him for good!” Hina complained.

“What’s important now is that we know for sure that this is a killing game. We can also assume that he’s in charge, as well as that he won’t be giving us any logical explanation for why the dead are alive again.” Kirigiri looked calm as ever, but Monokuma’s sudden appearance was still clearly unsettling for her. “Either way, let’s round everyone up so that we can get our proper exposition.”

"A student has completed their entrance exam. Student count is now eleven."

“Since Hagakure isn’t here,” Hina recalled. “Does that mean that other people won’t be here either?”

“Until we see everyone, I don’t think there’s a way to determine that.” Naegi replied.

"A student has completed their entrance exam. Student count is now twelve."

They met Chihiro and Mondo at the stairway to the second floor. They all exchanged greetings almost immediately, but the happy chat quickly turned darker when Chihiro brought up his entrance exam. 

“I was lying on the floor of a dark room with my head hurting, and I could barely focus on anything. There was something tied around my wrists and neck, but it wasn’t attached to anything, so I just took it off. Then I just followed the wall for a while until I reached a door, but the door had no way to open. Some voice told me that I had completed my entrance exam, and that I was the tenth student. That’s when I came out of the room and saw Mondo.” Chihiro glanced at the floor. “Sorry for the bad summary…”

“It was fine,” Naegi assured him.

“Mondo, did you experience something like this?” Kirigiri asked. Mondo nodded.

“Then not only did they wake at their death sites, but they also had to go through these ‘entrance exams’,” Naegi observed. 

“Yeah, Celes described it earlier. ‘You were in the state that you were in when you finished your execution, albeit toned down a ton.’ But we were also in the places where we died. And those places were dark as hell!” Mondo fumed. “We’ve gotta find out who put us back in this fucking place.”

“Oh! Monokuma appeared to us earlier!” Hina exclaimed. 

“Th-then it’s Monokuma’s doing again? But does that mean… Junko?” Chihiro gasped.

“That can’t be possible! We already killed her, and her AI was destroyed!” Naegi shook his head. “How could Junko be here again?”

“It’s possible that that Monokuma had its own AI.” Kirigiri suggested. 

Mondo shrugged. “Well, whatever it is, we can deal with it later. C’mon Chihiro, let’s go to the cafeteria. See ya guys.”

“Yeah, okay.” Chihiro waved goodbye as he followed Mondo away. 

The remaining three went up the stairs and split up to search the second floor. However, upon finding no one there, they regrouped and went to the third. They nearly decided to split up again there, but stopped when they heard approaching footsteps. Kirigiri looked to the direction that they were coming from and motioned for Naegi and Hina to look too. Walking down the hall and talking were Sakura and Taka. 

Hina immediately ran towards Sakura and hugged her. She was laughing and grinning with delight, and Sakura was smiling too. Taka looked at them first with shock, followed by looking at Hina with shock, then by looking at them all again.

“Y-you! Don’t run in the halls!”

Hina peered over at him with a scowl. “You can’t really be thinking of the rules now!”

Taka sighed. “I suppose I can make an exception and not report you.”

“Taka was eleventh and Sakura was twelfth.” Kirigiri got right to business. “That means that Sakura was the last one to complete her entrance exam.”

“I will agree that that is what the voice told me,” Sakura said.

“Taka, where did you wake up?” 

His reply was instant. “The art storage room!”

“Sakura, were you sitting in a chair when you woke?”

“I seem to remember that I was.”

Kirigiri nodded. “Then we can assume that everyone woke up at the final place that their body lay before being cleaned up my Monokuma. From Chihiro, we can also assume that everyone was in a dulled state of how they were when they died.”

“That’s a weird combination,” Naegi muttered. “It would have been easier if everyone was where they died and in the state that they died in or where they ended up in the state they ended up in.”

“Then was the rope Chihiro had just a nod to Togami?” Hina asked.

“I would assume,” Kirigiri responded.

“Are you meaning to tell me that everyone had to take an exam like we did?” Taka shouted. “Then what happened to you three?”

“Along with Togami and Fukawa, we woke in a classroom. We did not have to take an exam.” Kirigiri glanced at a nearby monitor, as if waiting for it to do something. After a little while, she turned back to the others. “Taka, did you see another room where Yamada could have been?”

Taka shook his head.

“Oh, I got it!” Hina exclaimed. “Maybe he isn’t here, like Hagakure!”

“Hagakure isn’t here?” Sakura looked mildly surprised. “Is there a reason for that?”

Naegi hesitated. “We haven’t been able to figure anything out about it yet.” 

“No one else has woken. I think it’s safe to meet with the others in the cafeteria.” Kirigiri turned to leave, and the rest followed her. Hina and Sakura chatted loudly, catching up on how things were, even though Sakura was a ghost now. Taka occasionally commented on their volume, but for the most part, he stayed quiet. Kirigiri and Naegi didn’t talk much, mostly because they knew that it would be hard to hear themselves over Hina, but also because they were thinking. The walk didn’t take long, and they quickly found themselves barging into the cafeteria.

“L-look, the idiot swimmer is back. And her muscle brain friend is here too!” Fukawa ‘greeted’ them as they came in. “And the rule obsessed monkey, and-”

“That’s enough. You insult my bro again and you have it in for you!” Mondo glared at the writer. 

“Geez! You don’t have to insult everyone all the time!” Hina frowned at her.

Sayaka smiled at everyone. ‘It’s nice seeing us all together again!”

“Well then!” Taka took charge of the situation. “Let us call this assembly to order! Everyone please report what happened to you!”

“There’s no need,” Togami stated. “We can summarize what everyone has done easily. Besides, I don’t want to waste time listening to all of your stories.”

“Well then Naegi and I can handle this,” Kirigiri volunteered. “The survivors of the school life of mutual killing woke up in a classroom. They decided to make the cafeteria the meeting place again, then went off in search of other students. They started running into the victims and culprits of the school life, who are somehow now alive.”

“The victims and culprits had to go through some kind of entrance exam.” Naegi explained. “They were trapped in dark rooms, specifically the rooms where they died. Their locations were determined by where their bodies ended up before Monokuma cleared them away. They were in toned down copies of the conditions they were in after their deaths, and this was before any outside interference. They each had to find some door that would open after an announcement saying that they finished their entrance exams. Is that it?”

“Woah… you guys totally sound like you do in class trials! You know, during the times when you explain everything?” Leon laughed.

“Woah!” Sayaka echoed. “Teehee, you guys sound cool.”

Celes cleared her throat. “On a more urgent note, I’m thirsty. Yamada isn’t here, so I’m wondering if Naegi…” 

“Umm,” Naegi stammered. 

“Wait… wait, I think someone is coming!” Sayaka declared.

Mondo peered over at her. “Eh? Why do you think that?”

“I’m psychic!” 

“That logic is wack.” Leon crossed his arms.

“D-don’t you think we should at least listen?” Chihiro looked around. “I mean… she could be right.”

“About such a random notion? Yes, you are correct. She could be right.” Celes’s tone dripped with irritation, likely because she still had no tea.

“You’re not being s-sarcastic, a-are you?” Chihiro sputtered. 

 

“I’m not,” she confirmed.

Sayaka looked unsure for a second, but her face quickly changed to a soft smile. She nodded and left the room. Chihiro followed her, so with a sigh, Mondo did too. Taka followed Mondo. Celes went as well. Kirigiri looked over at Naegi, who headed to the door along with her. Leon shrugged and followed. Sakura and Hina left, leaving Togami and Fukawa. When Togami left, Fukawa, obviously, did too. Sayaka led them to the elevator that went to the trial room. There, she stopped and told them all to wait.

They waited there for a while, with complaints coming from Leon and Mondo. Sayaka shifted around, and Naegi went and conversed with her quietly.

“Just kidding, as usual,” Sayaka whispered. “But my intuition really is telling me that someone’s coming!” She paused. “I honestly don’t know where they would be coming from, but the entrance hall is blocked and this is my second choice.”

“Well, your intuition is usually right, but could it be right about something like this?”

“I hope so… I don’t want to make a fool of myself.”

“No one’s going to think you’re a fool if you’re wrong here!”

She sighed. “But what about Leon and Mondo? I’ve seen the way they look at me! Not quite like I’m crazy… but maybe just that what I’m saying is crazy?”

“They can get over it,” Kirigiri said flatly.

“Kirigiri?” Sayaka looked at her. “Were you eavesdropping?”

“No. The sound level of your conversation has simply risen.”

Sayaka’s face flushed bright pink. Luckily, Kirigiri, Celes, and Chihiro, the ones standing closest, seemed to be the only ones who had heard. Kirigiri suddenly held a finger to her lips and looked at the elevator. After a few seconds, she spoke again.

“Do you guys hear the rattling? Like Sayaka said, someone is coming.”

Everyone first looked at Kirigiri, then at the elevator. Slowly but surely, the rattling sound grew in volume. Then it stopped. The doors began to open.


	2. Prologue: Sunset of Hope, Dawn of Another Despair [Part 2]

S7: Hinata Hajime  
The doors began to open. This time, they didn’t open to the trial ground. They didn’t open to the escalator that led down from Monokuma Rock. The opened to a whole new room, one that none of them had ever seen before. It was too much for some of them. Hiyoko whimpered and clung to Mahiru, though Hajime could tell that she was faking the level of her fear. Mikan’s reaction was legitimate though. She nearly burst into tears. Most people, however, simply had shocked expressions. After the surprise of being on Jabberwock Island again, with some of them going through some sort of ‘entrance exams’ that forced them to remember their deaths, none of them could say that they were calm. That along with their friends being suddenly alive caused a shock containing an odd mix of joy and trauma. 

There were other odd things too. Unlike the last time that they had had memories removed, they were aware this time that some memories had been taken. In general, they agreed that their memories cut off after Chiaki’s class trial and resumed after they had left the simulation. It was obvious that there had been important information in the following trial, and they were all frustrated that they couldn’t remember. But they had been made aware of some crucial information: they were all Ultimate Despair. They had also been briefed about the Tragedy. Hajime had been made aware of something else, something he wouldn’t tell anyone. He was Izuru Kamukura. He had noticed that he now had some of Izuru’s traits, and it bothered him. He could even feel that his personality had slightly shifted. It was disturbing, but he knew he had to focus on the matter at hand.   
The doors fully opened. On the other side, a crowd of people stood waiting for them. He looked around and started analyzing them - the boy with brown spiky hair was an average student, the girl with long blue hair was…

S8: Nanami Chiaki  
As the elevator had been moving, Chiaki had been thinking. Just before, she had appeared in a room. After all the time she had spent not existing, she didn’t understand at all how she did now. In front of her was Monokuma, and he seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. 

“You exist now no questions!”

It had been a crude and abrupt phrase, but Chiaki had just nodded.

“... How is everyone?” That had been the question she asked.

Monokuma chuckled. “That’s the first question you ask? It says something about you! Upupupu… here, I’ll tell you. No one died after you did! Isn’t that just… terrible!? I would have wanted more killings, but I guess I can’t always have what I want.” 

“Okay. Why am I here?”

“Oh Chiaki! You should feel so privileged, just like those three!”

“Hmm?”

“Upupupu, it doesn’t concern you. Anyway, you should feel privileged that I’m telling you all this in private. Since I don’t like repeating myself, I usually just tell people in groups. But I’ll get to the point. The other school trip kids were all Remnants of Despair!” 

“...”

“Isn’t that so despair-inducing?”

“Anything else to say?”

“Uh… nope!”

“Okay. I have a question.”

“Ask away!”

Chiaki focused her gaze on Monokuma and put a serious look on her face. “Ultimate Despair is the bad guy. So why do they get the nurse healer? I didn’t think that baddies usually got healers.”

Monokuma had just stared at her. Then he pointed at the door. She got up and left. From there she met up with the other former blackened, and they had then met up with their other classmates. After a series of unfortunate events involving exposition, yelling, and swearing, they had all come to the elevator. But as the ride progressed and drew on longer and longer, they realized that it wasn’t just going to the trial room. They didn’t know where it was going.

Now the doors opened and stayed that way, but no one walked out. The students on both sides just kind of stared at each other. Chiaki took the time to make her first impressions. She looked to the rightmost student, a very pretty girl with long blue hair and bright eyes. Perhaps she was the Ultimate Model, Idol, or Cheerleader? She seemed like the type who would be cheerful and friendly to anyone who spoke to her. Next to her was a boy with spiky brown hair and a hoodie. The gamer guessed that he could be something like the Ultimate Board Game Player or Sketch Maker. He was probably laid-back and nice. Then there was a girl with a neutral expression and long lavender hair. She looked very dignified and serious, like an Ultimate Analyzer or Mathematician. Beside her was a girl with pale skin and black hair tied up in two drill style ponytails. The first thought that came to mind was Ultimate Cosplayer, but maybe it was something closer to Ballerina or Dancer in general. 

The next person caught her eye. She was a small girl wearing a green sweater and brown skirt. Chiaki realized suddenly that she had seen this person before. It was Alter Ego! But even though she was here, she found it hard to believe that Alter Ego would really be here as well. Still, it was impossible that there was no relationship. Next to the girl was a person with red hair and a white jacket. Maybe the Ultimate Rock Musician? He was probably a really cool guy. Then there was another guy, also wearing white, who had very good, stiff posture. He was probably super strict, like an Ultimate Prefect or Drill Commander. A very tall, muscular girl stood next to him, and a shorter, tanned girl stood next to her. Perhaps the former was an Ultimate Fighter, and the latter was an Ultimate Athlete of some kind. They were likely both the kind type. A tall guy with a long black coat and a funny baguette looking hairdo stood in the back. He worried Chiaki because he looked like a bully kid, but maybe he wasn’t. After all, no one would suspect Hiyoko of acting the way she did. Maybe he was actually super nice. Lastly, separated from everyone else, were two people, a guy and a girl. The guy looked somewhat familiar. Since the Imposter had played as him, she already knew his talent was Ultimate Heir. Behind him, the girl had two long braids and a terrified expression. She seemed like someone who was easily scared, and likely someone with a behind the scenes talent like Ultimate Designer or Writer. 

Chiaki looked over the group again. Still no one spoke, and the silence stretched through the air like a rope wearing thin. She didn’t want to make the first move either, so she continued to wait.

S9: Maizono Sayaka  
The doors opened, and on the other side stood a group of people. Sayaka had just grown comfortable with the idea that she wouldn’t have to be surrounded by strangers, but now she was being introduced to a whole crowd of them. However, the idea was oddly comforting. If this really was a killing game, then there would be people to fodder off. She didn’t want anyone she knew to die again. 

In the center of the group was a boy that looked like Naegi, but taller with darker hair. Maybe he was an Ultimate Lucky Student too. Then there was a girl with short hair of a colour too distorted by the lighting for Sayaka to tell what it was. She had a pixilated rocket shaped hairclip, which for some reason reminded her a little of Hifumi. Based on that, she guessed that the girl was something like Ultimate Cartoonist. Next to her was a blonde girl with a confident pose and a fair complexion. She could be an Ultimate Public Speaker. Then was a man with a long purple scarf and white streaks in his hair. He looked scary, maybe like an Ultimate Cultist. A tan skinned girl with a smirk stood next to him. She reminded Sayaka of Hina, so she could be an athlete. A short boy stood in front of a grey haired girl. The girl had a sheath on her back, making it pretty clear that she was Ultimate Swordsman. The boy wore a black striped suit. Ultimate Businessman? In the far back, she could just make out a guy with white wavy hair, but she couldn’t tell anything from his clothes or posture because she couldn’t see them, so she couldn’t guess his talent.

On the other side of the first boy was a redhead with a camera on a strap across her neck. Ultimate Photographer seemed like the obvious choice. Beside her was a small girl in traditional dress. Ultimate Traditional Dancer for her. Then was a girl with purple-grey hair and a short skirted dress. A red cross on it told Sayaka that she was Ultimate Doctor or Nurse. Then was a girl with multicoloured hair and a bright smile. Given all the piercings she had and her hair, she seemed like she could have been the Ultimate Musician who specialized in electric guitar and rock or pop. And that was everyone.

Sayaka noticed that no one was moving. She wondered as she stifled a sigh when someone would. It wasn’t usual for everyone to hesitate like this. Perhaps it was the shock that there were so many? It seemed like minutes, but she was sure it was just one at most. She considered stepping up herself, but someone else did before her. 

“Uh… hello!” Naegi smiled at the other group of students.

“I bid you hello!” The tall blonde girl replied instantly. It really must have been surprise that froze them all. 

“Move out of our way, pathetic mortals! The Four Dark Devas of Destruction require room to exercise their power. Unless you all wish to be burned to a crisp, shift your presences to the side so that we may pass!” It was the scarf guy. Sayaka thought that his speech was odd, but moved aside anyway. She noticed that most others did too. It was probably irritating to stay in the elevator for a long time anyway. The crowd of students started walking out quickly once they had room, which only backed up the thought. 

“We should introduce ourselves. That’s what people do when they first meet… I think.” The hairclip girl didn’t sound unsure, but her last two words made Sayaka wonder. Perhaps she was shy or uncomfortable with large crowds?

“Well then I call us to order! Everyone please introduce yourselves after the person beside you is finished!” Taka commanded.

“But we’re all just in a heap!” Hina protested. “There are like, five people next to me!”

“Yeah!” The girl in traditional dress agreed. “But more importantly, just introducing yourself is boring! Along with that, everyone should say their darkest secret!”

“Wh-what kind of person would d-do that?” Fukawa insisted. “I’m n-not going too… no matter how much you whine!”

“Why don’t we just say something about ourselves instead?” The tan athlete girl suggested. “Even though I’m not personally against that idea.”

“That is fine, but we are still in a disgusting heap.” Celes frowned. “I would like to go to a more open space. How does the gym sound?”

There were murmurs of agreement and everyone turned towards the hallways. The students who were a part of the killing school life were in front by default, which was lucky since they knew their ways around the school. They all got to the gym after only a short walk in which the new arrivals followed the old, and spread out once inside. At a few of Taka’s orders, they formed a slightly misshapen circle, but it sufficed because now there were only two people next to each person. It was already more orderly than it had been before. 

“Then I’ll start!” Sayaka chirped. “My name is Maizono Sayaka, and I’m the Ultimate Idol. My special fact is… that I’m psychic. And speaking of psychic, I was totally right!”

“Psychic? You’re kidding, right? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!” 

Sayaka scowled. This short little girl was growing on her nerves. She came to her senses quickly though, recovering her pleasing smile. “Of course I’m kidding. Then my special fact is that I have really good intuition.”

“That’s cool!” The tanned girl grinned. “Well I’m Owari Akane, and I’m the Ultimate Gymnast. I also have amazing intuition!” She paused. “Well, it’s more of my gut feeling. Is that the same as intuition? I don’t wanna think about it too hard.”

“I think they’re the same…” Chihiro pondered the thought. “I don’t really know. I’m sorry…” He looked up and around at the circle of people. “Oh, do I have to introduce myself? I’m n-not too good at this kind of thing. It’s hard enough i-in front of just one person but… I’m Fujisaki Chihiro. I’m the Ultimate Programmer. My special fact is that… well… I don’t really have one. I-I guess…”

“That’s okay kid!” Mondo laughed. “I’m Owada Mondo and I’m the Ultimate Bike Gang Leader. I’m the leader of the Crazy Diamonds.”

“That’s the most famous biker gang isn’t it?” The short kid in a suit asked. “I hope you don’t engage in stereotypical gang things like drinking. You’re underage you know. Anyway, I’m Kuzuryuu Fuyuhiko, and I’m the Ultimate Yakuza. I’m next in line to lead the Kuzuryuu Clan.”

“Isn’t it totally weird for you to think that?” The short blonde girl questioned, her eyes wide with a stare both pitying and accusing. “Don’t you do that kind of thing too?”

“What?! Of course not!” Fuyuhiko glared at her. 

“Whatever I don’t care! I’m Saionji Hiyoko and my title is Ultimate Traditional Dancer. My special fact is that I have a pet pig named Mikan!”

“Th-that’s me!” The girl with a red cross on her dress pronounced happily. “I’m Tsumiki Mikan, the Ultimate Nurse, and… um… um… oh no! I said it so surely! Does that make me sound arrogant, that I can say my talent so confidently? I’m sorry!”

“It is not arrogant, it is simply part of the order!” Taka’s voice was firm, but his words seemed like less of encouragement and more of what he considered fact. “I am Ishimaru Kiyotaka! I am the Ultimate Hall Monitor, and it is nice to meet you all!” He bowed sharply.

“I know right! It’s totally fun to see so many new faces!” Asahina grinned. “I’m Asahina Aoi, but you can call me Hina. I’m the Ultimate Swimmer and I like donuts!”

“I am Ogami Sakura,” Sakura said. “I am the Ultimate Martial Artist. I like protein shakes.”

“I want a protein shake right now,” Akane grumbled.

“Yeah, we should totally all go get some later. And candy too! And donuts!” Hina’s voice hit a high note in her excitement.

“What!? There’s candy!? You better not get near the gummy bears! They are all mine, and if you take them then you can consider yourself dead!” Hiyoko glared daggers at the swimmer. “Unless they’re yellow flavoured. I didn’t like those before, but I hate them now!” Hina responded by waving her off with a shrug. 

“You fools argue over the smallest things!” The guy with a scarf declared. “That is what separates you pathetic mortals from Overlords such as myself! If you are not ignorant, then you must already know my name. A being of power such as myself commands recognition! But for you weaker ones, I am Tanaka Gundam, the Ultimate Breeder!”

Hiyoko snickered. “What an idiot!”

“He is not an idiot! Do not say things like that!” The girl who was speaking now turned towards the group. “I am Sonia Nevermind, the Ultimate Princess. It is a pleasure. I am from Novoselic, so I am sorry if I am not completely fluent in your language.”

“Princess, hmm?” Celeste’s face remained completely neutral, but Sayaka guessed that she was more interested than she let on. “I am Celestia Ludenberg, the Ultimate Gambler. I have never lost a game.” She hesitated, pondering whether to continue. “Asides from our previous killing ordeal. We will certainly have to talk of that when we are finished with introductions.”

“Well then let’s continue with those,” the red headed girl said. “My name is Koizumi Mahiru. I’m the Ultimate Photographer. Not as cool as all of your titles, I know, but it’s still a defining skill that my mother passed to me.”

“Don’t like your talent too much, huh? I can totally relate.” Leon smirked. “I’m Kuwata Leon, the Ultimate Baseball Star. I don’t like it though. I never go to practice! I would rather be in music.”

“Ooh, music! That’s totally Ibuki’s thing!” The girl with multicoloured hair let a huge smile grow across her face. “Mioda Ibuki! That’s the name of this totally cool rock star!” She laughed. “Ibuki is the Ultimate Musician.”  
“All three of us are into music? That’s cool!” Sayaka smiled. “I think we’ll be good friends.”

“Th-then the three loud, annoying ones will be f-friends and the three m-muscle brains will too? Wh-what a boring mixture. It’s so s-selective.” Fukawa frowned. “N-not that I care. I don’t need anyone except Byakuya-sama… a-anyway. I’m Fukawa Toko. I’m the Ultimate Writer.” She looked at Naegi, who was going next. “M-move along now, you don’t get to know anything else a-about me.”

“I’m Naegi Makoto and I’m… well, I’m just the Ultimate Lucky Student.”

“Ultimate Lucky Student…? So you’re the one from your class,” the boy with white wavy hair noted. 

“I’ve also been called Ultimate Hope.”

The other boy scoffed. “Though in reality, you’re talentless.” He shook his head. “Whoever is calling you that doesn’t understand. Only the truly talented can become hope.”

“Not hiding it this time?” the boy with dark, spiky hair asked.

He was ignored though as the lecture was continued. “See, the rest of the population is merely a stepping stone for those people. They-”

“Alright then.” Kirigiri interrupted him. “Continuing with the introductions, I’m Kirigiri Kyouko.”

There was a pause in the room, as if everyone was expecting her to say more. She didn’t look like she was going to talk again though. Finally, Sonia voiced what mostly everyone was thinking.

“And you’re the Ultimate what?” She sounded truly curious, and others nodded or mumbled in agreement with her question. Kirigiri gave a brief shake of her head.

“I’m not telling you that.”

“I guess it’s fine if you don’t want to. Let’s finish up. My name is Nanami Chiaki. I’m the Ultimate Gamer. I like videogames.” A sad expression crossed her face. “I’m not sure if there will be any gaming consoles in this school though… they usually don’t allow things like that.”

“Don’t worry. You can play the killing game instead. It’s likely much more exciting. After all, you can see all of the events first hand and actively participate in whatever way you want. Anyway, I’m Togami Byakuya, the Ultimate Heir.” 

“You’re calling a killing game exciting?” Chiaki sighed. “I hope that doesn’t mean that you’ll kill without a second thought.”

“Without a second thought? I would never. I would specifically arrange the murder scene to make it as interesting as possible. Then I would actively participate in trying to confuse you all to see whether or not your near worthless brains could be put to any sort of work.”

“I wouldn’t mind if you did that. Oh, but I should introduce myself before saying anything else. I’m Komaeda Nagito, the Ultimate Lucky Student from my class. And if you did do all those things to complicate a murder, then it would be difficult to solve. When we finally manage to figure it out, a bright hope will arise from… only your class, I guess. I suppose that would be okay though.”

“Enough of this,” the silver haired swordsman said. “The sooner we finish our introductions, the better, so I’ll introduce myself. My name is Pekoyama Peko, the Ultimate Swordsman.”

“I’m last, right? Well, my name is Hinata Hajime. Has anyone else not gone yet?”

“No,” Sakura confirmed. “Everyone else has gone.”

“Well in that case!” A voice came from the far side of the gym. “I’ll start my speech! Please listen because I don’t like monologuing. Ahem. Welcome to Hope’s Peak Academy! I am your lovely Headmaster Monokuma. You all remember me, don’t you? Yep, I can see the glints in your eyes. You must all be so happy to see me. Now, I know it’s not a school custom to do this, but I will answer questions before I give my exposition! Why? Because I assure you that none of your questions will be answered during it, so it isn’t like I’ll be repeating myself.” He laughed. “Upupupupupupu! I really don’t get it though, do you guys? Why teachers want you to ask questions after their presentations? If they let you ask questions before, then they can shorten their presentations by cutting whatever you ask. Oh well though! I guess they’re just too lazy to do that.” He hopped down from the pedestal that he had been standing on and did a little twirl after hitting the floor. “Attention!” He saluted to no one in particular. “Now, fire your questions like bullets through the air! Like arrows through the air! What can they really go through besides the air?”

“You’re ranting,” Kirigiri stated.

“Am I? Sorry! I really mean it because a headmaster must respect his students. So come on and ask your questions!”

Hina raised her hand and waved it. “Here! I want to know how everyone who was dead is alive again!”  
Monokuma shook his head slowly. He put a paw to his eyes and pretended to wipe away a tear. “Oh Hina, dear Hina.”

“Huh?” She blinked in confusion.

“After I went through all that trouble to come right to you before. I’ll repeat what I said then exactly as I said it. I said, ‘Look here kiddos, they’re alive now, no questions!’. That still applies! I am so disappointed in you because you didn’t remember that.”

“Then just answer this,” Kirigiri pressed. “Are the dead students actually alive again? Can you assure us that this isn’t some kind of virtual reality like the Neo World Program, and can you assure us that they aren’t AIs?”

“Absolutely! This is real life, no lie! They are back to life. That is the absolute truth.”

“I have a question!” Hiyoko declared. “Who are these people?” Squinting suspiciously, she waved her hands at Sayaka and her class. 

“Now that I can clarify,” Monokuma exclaimed. “Those people are what I will refer to as the school life or school class. They participated in the school life of mutual killing. It was a beautiful array of five murders, one suicide, and the killing of the mastermind. Upupupupu! And now since I’m a very generous bear, I’ll give you the gift of information about these people.” He pointed with a paw towards the remaining students. “I will refer to these guys as the school trip or island class. They participated in the school trip of mutual killing. There, we had six murders and the killing of the mastermind.”

“Speaking of mastermind,” Hajime began. “Junko is that you?”

Monokuma laughed. “Upupupu! I’m not Junko! I’m my own independent AI! That’s right, I’m registered as independent, as independent as I can be with a cotton brain and no idea how the world works!” A big, sarcastic frown formed on his white half while his black half still grinned malevolently. “I’m sorry if I disappointed you. I know how much you want to see Junko.”

“No one wants to see Junko.” Togami said. “She got old after the first time, but she came back anyway.”  
Monokuma gasped. “I may not be Junko, but I still don’t approve of insulting her! I should add that to the school rules. No insulting Junko!”

“Will you really add that?” Celes wondered.

“... No, obviously not. But hey, all this talking about school rules has reminded me that I have a speech to give. Question time is officially over! Yeah it’s speech time!” He turned back to the stage and jumped up, grabbing the edge with his paws and waving his feet as he tried to get a good grip. After crawling up, he jumped up to the pedestal and faced everyone again. “Okay! As I’m sure you have all guessed, you are here in Hope’s Peak Academy for one of my legendary killing games! That’s right, you will participate again in the natural cycle of killing your friends, finding a body who was probably your friend, investigating, finding the killer, and killing the killer who was also probably your friend! Wait, did I say killing the killer who was probably your friend? Oops! That isn’t happening this time.”

“What? Ibuki is confused. We aren’t going to punish the killers?”

“Upupu. Of course we’re going to punish the killers! How can there be order otherwise? This time though, the punishments will be a multitude of things, but the killer will not die. This is the way it will work. After being found out as the blackened, instead of an execution, the killer will receive a short torture session. The spotless students may choose whether they want to watch this. The killer will not have access to the following rooms: the cafeteria, the warehouse, the canteen, the chemistry lab, and the greenhouse. In addition, the water in their dorm will never work and they will be unable to lock their dorm. A killer may not kill again after their class trial, whether they are found guilty or not.”

“Why the hell are you doing this?” Mondo asked. “Last time you were super hyped about your executions, but now you’re acting as if they were just accessories.”

“Well I was quite proud of them. I put my heart and soul into making them just for you guys! The torture sessions will also be oddly specific to the killer though, so don’t worry. The reason though? I wasn’t satisfied with the amount of kills before, so I decided that if only one person dies per kill, then there will have to be plenty of kills before we reach the winner!”

“What happens when we run out of possible killers?” Mahiru questioned.

“Then I’ll allow everyone to kill again!” His laugh rang through the gym as everyone stared in shock at him and his new set of rules. He didn’t seem to care though, and he piped right back up with the next part of his speech. “It’s different from before, isn’t it? Now speaking of differences, there are a few that you will need to note. First, your dorms will be accessed by your e-handbooks. I’ll give those to you later. However, if you don’t lock the doors, they can still be opened without scanning. Second, no rooms are closed at night. If you guys remember, some most certainly were before! Not this time though! Upupupu! Third, you may notice that some items have been added around the school. It’s nothing major, just an extra trash can here, an extra rope there, etc. Don’t worry about those, just go with the flow. Fourth, we have renovated, and there is a new hallway with new dorms for all you new people. I think that’s it. Now it’s time for me to give you your handbooks! Please remember to look over the rules. Killers may not be executed but rulebreakers will, so be very careful. I’ll answer my classes’ questions after.”

Monokuma leaped to the gym floor and started handing out handbooks from a bulky pouch he carried on his back. His waddling steps made him look carefree, but everyone else was tense and disturbed. Murmurs of ‘Why do we have to do this?’ and ‘I can’t go through this again’ floated around the room as students accepted the small devices he dropped into their hands. Sayaka caught hers and turned it on. Like before, the first thing it showed was her name, written in a large font across the center of the screen. Before she could turn to the rules, Monokuma suddenly gasped and her eyes darted to him.

“I forgot, I forgot! It’s a disaster! I forgot to mention your motives!”

“What do you mean by motives?” Taka demanded.

“I mean exactly what I say. Now that you know all about the tragedy, I’m sure you don’t have the motive to escape this time. So what can I do to make you kill each other?”

“Actually we do have the motive to escape…” Naegi muttered. 

“Hoodie look around! You may have the motive to escape, but over half of these guys are dead people! They most certainly don’t have that motive. So what I am proposing is this. If you successfully become the blackened and are not revealed, I will grant you a wish! It must be practical though. You can’t wish for the despair days to be over or to be filled with endless hope. Just say something reasonable and poof! It is yours. If that isn’t enough to motivate you, there’s something else. By the end of the week, if no one dies, I will reveal all of your secrets to each other and to the world. You wouldn’t want that, would you? I’ll also be giving you new motives every once in awhile, just to really ignite those sparks of murderous intent you have inside you.” 

“Well then it is clear what we must do!” Taka shouted firmly. “Everyone go in order and say your secret!”  
Immediate cries of ‘No’ rang out. It was to be expected. No one wanted to have their secret revealed.

“I’m so good at thinking of motives,” Monokuma bragged. “You will murder, I just know it. For now, why don’t you get on with what you were doing before and read your rules.”

“I will do that then,” Celes volunteered. “Rule One. Students may reside only within the school. Leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time.”

“It’s exactly the same as before,” Leon observed.

“Rule Two. Nighttime is from 1o PM to 7 AM.”

“That one is the same but without the restricted areas part,” Sayaka noted.

“Rule Three. With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Hope's Peak Academy at your discretion. All areas asides from the Bio Lab, Data Room, Headmaster’s Room, and Second Floor Dorms are open right from the get-go.”

“U-um… that’s good!” Mikan smiled. “Then th-there will be enough r-room for everyone!”

“Shut up you stupid oink pig, no one wants your opinion,” Hiyoko growled.

“I noticed that Rule Three, the one about sleeping only in your dorms, is missing,” Kirigiri mentioned.

“Good,” Chiaki said. “I wouldn’t be able to follow that rule.”

“Rule Four,” Celes continued. “Violence against headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance cameras.”

“I didn’t see any surveillance cameras on my way here,” Peko remembered.

“Oh don’t worry about that. It’s a ‘just in case’ part of the rule!” Monokuma crossed his arms and leaned against the stage. “Even if there aren’t security cameras now, that doesn’t mean I won’t add them later.”

“Is that foreshadowing?” Fukawa wondered.

“Rule Five. Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will get a wish, unless they are discovered.”

“That change is obvious!” Sonia exclaimed. 

“Rule Six. Once a murder takes place, a class trial will begin shortly thereafter. Participation is mandatory for most surviving students unless they are specifically told that they are an exception.”

“Hmm?” Akane grunted. “What does that mean?”

“Exactly what it says,” Celes intoned. “Although I wonder what it would take to be considered an exception. Anyway, Rule Seven. If the guilty party is exposed during the class trial, they alone will be tortured. They will also receive the aftereffects of disrupting the order as stated my Monokuma. Rule Eight. If the guilty party is not exposed, they alone will be safe, and all remaining students will be tortured.”

“Maybe there will be a way to get out of this torture,” Hajime stated.

“Maybe, maybe,” Monokuma replied with a cackle.

“Rule Nine. Loaning your e-handbook to another student is strictly prohibited.”

“I remember when that rule was made!” Hina smiled cheerfully. “We were about to go to the pool!”

“Rule Ten. The guilty party may only kill a maximum of two people during any single ‘killing game’, unless clearly stated otherwise. In addition, the guilty party, after their class trial, may not kill again unless specifically told that they are an exception.”

“Exceptions again?” Nagito questioned. “I really want to know now who these exceptions are.”

“Rule Eleven. Forcefully entering a room that is locked by Headmaster Monokuma is prohibited. Rule Twelve. Additional school regulations may be added as necessary. Rule Thirteen. Violation of any of these regulations will result in immediate execution.”

“Those are the rules people! Now follow them! I’ll just say some other little tidbits of information and then I’ll let you guys out of class early. Okay, so water in your dorms shuts off at night time. Your dorms are soundproof. Only the bathrooms in the girls’ rooms can be locked. Someone needs to be on trash duty, and the person will switch every week. If you try to go into the opposite gender’s changing room while the door is open, you will get turned into swiss cheese. That’s it, bye!” He walked to the stage, jumped up, and went behind the pedestal, disappearing from sight.

“Now that that’s done, there is one more thing I want to say.” Celes made sure that everyone was listening to her before continuing. “Remember my night time rule? I propose that we follow it again.”

“What kind of rule is this night time rule?” Gundam demanded.

“It is a rule that we used the last time we were in the school,” Sakura explained. “It forbids leaving your room at nighttime.”

“I think that is a good idea!” Sonia announced. “If we do not have a rule like that, then we will never get any sleep. After all, this school is very enclosed, unlike the island. It’s scary! So I will hold a vote. All in favour say ‘ay’!”

A bunch of people responded with ‘ay’s. Sonia smiled.

“We’ll sleep soundly tonight! Let us all retire to our rooms. I am growing tired.”

Everyone started heading out of the gym. They hadn’t accustomed to each other yet, and so island class students gravitated towards other island class students. The same occurred with school class students. They walked towards Despair Hotel, and there was little chatter even though there was a lot to talk about. It was almost awkward. However, they soon reached the dorm area.

“Tomorrow morning after Monokuma’s wake up call, everyone meet at the dining hall!” Ishimaru ordered.

“Yessir!” Ibuki chirped. After that, everyone started bidding their goodbyes and entering their dorms. There were clicks as doors shut and locked. 

“Ahem!” Monokuma’s voice spoke up as the nighttime announcement played. “This is a school announcement. It is now 10:00 PM and officially nighttime. Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That concludes the prologue. Comment on what you think so far and don't worry, there's more coming up :)


	3. Monokuma Theater: One

MONOKUMA Theater 

A curtain opens. Monokuma sat on a wooden stage with a red curtain behind him. Beside him was a wooden statue with a gold medal around it. 

Monokuma: What’s a favourite?

Monokuma: It’s the thing you think is the best, isn’t it?

Monokuma: But it’s actually a bad thing when you think about it.

Monokuma: For example, if someone asked me who my favourite student was.

Monokuma: And I said someone’s name.

Monokuma: Wouldn’t that offend everyone else?

Monokuma: And if someone asked me my favourite colour.

Monokuma: I wouldn’t be able to respond.

Monokuma: I mean, I like both black and white.

Monokuma: It’s unfair that I have to choose just one.

Monokuma: So I propose we have a new word.

Monokuma: A Monourite. It’s all your favourites put into one.

Monokuma: Wait.

Monokuma: What’s that?

Monokuma: We already have a word like that?

Monokuma: Add an ‘s’ to favourite, you say?

Monokuma: Why? Do you think that Monourites aren’t good enough?

Monokuma: How rude. You definitely aren’t part of my Monourites!

The curtain closes.

MONOKUMA Theater - End


	4. Chapter 1: The Value of Reward is a Feather, The Value of Risk is Lead

S1: Naegi Makoto  
“Ahem!” Monokuma started his morning announcement. “This is a school announcement! It is now 7:00 AM. Nighttime is officially over. Be prepared to give it your all today!”

Naegi got up and pushed off his blanket. He didn’t feel like he had gotten much sleep, but he figured that in reality, he had probably gotten only a little less than his normal amount of hours. The whole process of getting out of bed to a talking bear’s recording, meeting in a cafeteria in a closed off school, and talking to people who were given an incentive to kill was strange indeed, but it felt disturbingly normal for him. That didn’t make him any more comfortable though. He decided to go meet up with everyone else in the cafeteria.

As he left his room, he realized that he wasn’t the only one to be leaving at the time. Hiyoko had just come out, rubbing her eyes on the long sleeve of her dress. Akane came out with her mouth wide open in a yawn. Nagito stepped out of his room and shut the door behind him.

“Good morning,” Nagito greeted. He smiled and waved.

“Hi Nagito,” Naegi replied. “Uh… are you all going to the cafeteria?”

“I am,” Hiyoko snickered. “I’m smart enough to remember. Hey, do you guys think we should wake Mikan, since she probably forgot?”

“Nah, you shouldn’t worry about her,” Akane yawned. “I came out here earlier. It was probably around six. See, sometimes I’m a real deep sleeper, so when I woke up, I thought that I had missed Monokuma’s announcement. I went outside to go to the dining room when I saw Mikan.”

“Huh?!” Hiyoko looked surprised and an irritated look crossed her face. “She… she’s so dumb! Waking up that early when she had an hour before she had to go? She’s dumb, just like you Akane!” Hiyoko pouted and stomped away.

“Akane, since you woke up so early, how come you just came out of your room?” Nagito asked.

“Mikan saw me. She looked pretty shocked to see someone else up. Then she apologized a few times and said that she would let me pour milk all over her when we got to the kitchen.” Akane shrugged. “I guess she was going to the cafeteria early to pour milk for everyone. Of course, I didn’t want to do that, so I just went back to sleep.”

“That’s nice of her,” Naegi remarked. “Oh, we should all get to the dining hall now. We’re already late enough to get yelled at by Taka.”

“I’m sure it’s hard for him to see us late,” Nagito sighed. “He’s really concerned about being punctual.”

“Aww come on. We’re not that late!” Akane protested. 

“Still, we should go now. I’ll show you where it is.” Naegi turned and walked away as the other two followed him. They soon arrived at the open door accompanied by a small sign with a fork and a knife on it. Naegi went in first and Nagito let Akane go in before him. 

Taka was already inside. Naegi shamefully felt relief when he realized that the hall monitor was too busy talking to Mondo to notice that they had come in. Admittedly, as Akane had said, they weren’t that late, but he couldn’t pretend to know what Taka’s idea of late was. He sat down at a table next to Kirigiri, who had already arrived. 

Looking around, Naegi noticed that the room had been slightly revamped. A table was added here and there, mostly small ones, but one that was larger. He guessed it was to accommodate the greater amount of people. Across from Naegi and Kirigiri sat Hajime and Chiaki. Sakura and Hina talked enthusiastically about something a little farther away, and Celes sat with Sonia at one of the smaller tables. Sonia looked like she had long since finished her breakfast. Leon and Sayaka sat together at another big table, with the former grinning and the latter waving when Naegi, Akane, and Nagito had come in. Ibuki stood with them, a huge smile on her face as she ranted too fast to make out words. Mikan ran around with Hiyoko on her tail, crying as the dancer yelled at her. Mahiru watched it all with a shake of her head, but took no action to help. Taka started yelling at both of them for running in the school. Mondo just laughed. Chihiro tried to get Hiyoko to stop insulting the nurse, but ended up being targeted instead. 

Gundam came in a little later and Peko came with Fuyuhiko a few minutes after Gundam. The only ones still missing were Togami and Fukawa, though that wasn’t much of a surprise.

“Well then, how were your nights?” Sonia asked, trying to kick start a conversation. “I slept well. However, I’ve been slightly bothered. I asked Monokuma to give me an alarm clock, but he would not.”

“It would be nice if everyone had alarm clocks,” Taka interjected. 

“Why did you want an alarm clock?” Sayaka questioned.

“We are all supposed to meet at seven, when Monokuma plays his morning announcement, but in my country, participants of a meeting meet thirteen minutes before the proposed time. I understand that I do not have to follow that rule anymore, but I want to keep up the tradition. Unfortunately, I can not simply wake whenever I please. I woke up about five minutes before seven, and I felt terrible because I could not come thirteen minutes early.”

“Strange country you got there,” Leon scoffed. “What’s the point of having a meeting time if you’re just going to arrive thirteen minutes early?”

“Do not criticise other countries’ traditions just because you don’t understand them!” Sonia scolded. After that she fell silent and glanced around. 

“My night was good.” Celes remarked, answering Sonia’s question from before. “It didn’t take me long to get to sleep. I was very tired after the events of yesterday, and so the moment I lay down, a deep sleep overtook me.”

“Really?” Akane gasped between bites of her food. “Took me… forever! Was… so energetic… had to jump… stretch… and stuff for… an hour.”

Celes turned her face away from the gobbling gymnast. “Do not talk with your mouth full. It is both unpleasant to see and unpleasant to hear.”

“Can’t… help it! Food… so good… I just…” Akane was cut off as Celes swiped her hand in a sharp motion to point at her. 

“Quiet you bad mannered pig!” she commanded harshly. A frown was engrained deep within her features for a split second, but in less than a moment, her serene but sly smile had somehow found its way back. She sat back down, her eyes closed. Meanwhile, Akane had stopped moving altogether. It seemed like she had even stopped breathing. Celes looked at her. “I appreciate it.”

Mikan laughed nervously. “I don’t want to be rude… s-sorry I’m so rude! B-but my night was really we...ird...” Her voice rose in pitch and softened to a squeak as she finished her sentence. She was so nervous that she was almost trembling. Naegi felt sorry for her.

“Don’t worry, you aren’t being rude,” he assured her. Honestly, he wasn’t completely sure why she thought she was, but he didn’t question her about it. It might bring up something personal that she didn’t want to share. “Why was your night weird? If something happened, then we need to know.”

“I was just sleeping… w-well I wasn’t asleep, but l-lying down! I heard footsteps outside my door. I was scared so I didn’t ch-check who it was.” She hung her head. “It was pretty late, so I d-don’t think it could have b-been one of us.”

“Oh my gosh you idiot!” Hiyoko snarled. “That could have been super important information! Who here went outside at night?”

No one responded. Either it was true that no one had went out, or someone was lying. It couldn’t be the former, right? After all, they and Monokuma were only ones in the school. On the other hand, Celes had said something earlier that made him skeptical. Naegi stayed silent as he tried to recall. 

“Perhaps it was a hellbeast!” Gundam bellowed. “Mikan must have made a contract with the cursed demon in secret. She is not to be trusted, as well as not herself. If you want to bind to a beast, tame it! Do not take the easy way out, for it will lead to your twisted demise.”

“That is some Hiro level stupid,” Leon grumbled.

“Hiro doesn’t like occult stuff,” Hina argued.

“It is not occult! It is a factual speculation based on knowledge of the true world.” 

“Whatever. It was probably just one of us breaking the nighttime rule,” Hina guessed. “What else could it be?”

“It wasn’t!” Sonia asserted. “We all agreed to that rule. I do not think that we would break it so soon.”

“If I remember correctly…” Nagito began. “Akane said that she saw Mikan at around six in the morning. Isn’t that technically breaking the rule?”

Sonia gasped and Celes shook her head. No one else piped up with an idea for a little while. The next person to was Ibuki.

“It was a cat!” She nodded her head and crossed her arms, a ‘knowing’ smile crossing her face. “A cat got into the school and was walking around at night.”

“They were footsteps of someone with two feet,” Mikan sputtered.

“The cat transformed into a human! A human with a green robe and a pointy hat! I saw that in a movie once. I have to be right about this!” Ibuki cheered. “Five points for Ibuki!”

“Nah, that’s just lame,” Mondo huffed. “It was probably just that stupid bear. He can walk around at night no problem. He does have his own AI now, right?”

“He could, but why would he?” Hajime paused. “I don’t think he would. He’s always been the more lazy type.”

“Then if it wasn’t one of us, Mikan is making it up,” Hiyoko decided. “She just wants attention. That attention hog! Get it? She’s a pig, so if I say attention hog, it fits her perfectly. She’s even as dumb as a hog. I might start calling her hog!”

“N-no, please, I know I heard something!” Mikan cried. “Forgive me! I don’t know what it was! B-but I know that I heard something.”

“Give it up.” Nagito crossed his arms and leaned against the wall he was next to. “There’s no one it could have possibly been.”

“You got that wrong!” Naegi blurted out. Nagito turned and looked at him. Others did too. Naegi looked confident though. “You guys didn’t all hear it, but earlier, Celes mentioned something about the total number of students that would be here.”

“Ah yes.” A thoughtful look came to the gambler. “You may not remember. The island class definitely doesn’t remember. You might remember Togami’s millions, billions, and idiots speech though. It was around then.”

“I know what you’re talking about,” Kirigiri intoned. “It should be obvious. Why don’t you tell them, Naegi?”

“Celes, Mondo, and Leon woke up at the class trial room. While they were there, they apparently counted twenty-seven seats. There were sixteen students in my class, and minus Junko, Mukuro, Hiro, and Yamada, there are twelve. There should have been sixteen students in your class too. How many are there now?”

“There should be twelve in our class too,” Mahiru calculated. “Without the Imposter, Teruteru, Nekomaru, or   
Kazuichi.”

“Then there are twenty-four people here,” Chihiro pondered. “Three people missing.”

“Everyone is working together to figure this out. It’s such a nice event to be witness to.” Nagito smiled brightly.

“When we arrived at the island,” Chiaki recalled. “Some people had to take ‘entrance exams’. Maybe some people failed their entrance exams.”

“It’s a possibility,” Kirigiri admitted. “But I just don’t think that it’s true. Of course, I don’t have solid evidence to back that belief up. However, if people failed their exams, Monokuma with his love for drama would have said so. Those are my thoughts on the matter.”

“My esper powers tell me that Kirigiri is right!” Sayaka declared. “Just kidding. Not even my intuition tells me that. My intuition is silent. I dunno…”

“My gut won’t talk to me either,” Akane grumbled. “You know it did that in one of my dreams once. It was super awkward. It wasn’t very nice to me.” She huffed loudly.

“I have this policy that I came up with when I was bored some time ago,” Celes said. “Take everything with a grain of salt, but move forward with your best option. That way, you have no down time thinking up other ideas. Those can come later. I propose that we assume that Kirigiri’s assumption is correct for the time being. Perhaps there were other students here that we simply didn’t know of.”

Kirigiri nodded. “However, if we go with that, remember that these students could only have come some time after we all entered the school. We’ll have to ask Monokuma about the validity of those announcements that played when entrance exams were finished, but if they are legitimate, then the last person who arrived should have received an announcement stating that they were the twenty-fourth student.”

“Thinking back on it, I remember wondering why our entrance exams used abnormally high numbers,” Hajime commented. “They must have counted you guys.”

“Twenty-four was definitely the last number we heard… I think,” Chiaki testified.

“That contradicts itself, but whatever I guess.” Mondo shrugged. He slouched in his chair and glanced around. “Someone else is here then? Who could that be?”

“There’s no way to know,” Peko concluded. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be exploring the school.” She pushed out of her chair and abruptly left the room. With everyone slightly surprised by her sudden exit, no one tried to stop her. The conversation terminated after that. Others started trickling out of the room. Naegi eventually left as well. He didn’t know where to go next, but he decided that it would be a good idea to try and get to know the island class better.

He went back to his room first and thought. He was very curious about Mikan’s mystery figure, though Peko was right when she said that there was no way to know who it was. Their best bet at that point was to thoroughly search the school and hope to find them. Perhaps he should try to start the search? Naegi shook his head. That could come later. Besides, it was extremely likely that it was either Monokuma or someone breaking the rule. He confirmed his choice in his head, then he got up and left the room to find people to talk to. 

S2: Celestia Ludenberg  
Celes left the dining room last as she had been busy making tea when everyone was leaving. Because of that, she didn’t know that they were leaving at all. She had gone into the kitchen, irritated deeply by the fact that she had to make her precious tea on her own. It was undignified to have to do this. Still, she was thirsty at the time and water just wouldn’t do. If it was only for one day and she could persuade someone else to do the tea making the next time, she didn’t mind too much anyway.

By the time she came back into the cafeteria, it was empty. She frowned as she glanced around briefly, but upon confirming that no one was there, she daintily walked out of the room. She sipped her tea slowly, wondering what to do. In the end, she simply decided to go to her room so that she could rest and sip tea there. 

On the way, Celes stopped as a conversation came to her attention. It was a girl and a boy, but since they were both from the island class, she couldn’t yet recognize their voices. Did she really want to engage in conversation with them? Probably. After all, if she knew the possible suspects, it would be easier to find the blackened when they came around.

Casually, she walked deliberately down the hallway towards the voices. As they each turned the corner, Celes stopped. When they saw her, she let out a quick gasp before smiling at them. It was Mikan and Fuyuhiko. They seemed to have been talking about Mikan’s mystery figure. Celes was surprised that it had been Fuyuhiko who believed her, so she decided to let them continue their conversation as she joined in to find out why.

“Good morning,” the gambler greeted. “I sincerely hope that I am not interrupting you.”

“Sorry that we made you think that!” Mikan immediately responded. It seemed like instinct to her. “D-don’t feel bad! We’re the ones who should feel bad… b-because we bumped into you! You didn’t interrupt us!” 

“It’s alright,” Celes assured her. “I suppose I will simply have to join in. Are you talking about Mikan’s mystery figure? It is a wonder that you bother ponder this at all. She is clearly lying.”

Mikan whimpered while Fuyuhiko shrugged. “I saw them,” he informed her. “Just their silhouette in the shadows, but I know that I saw someone. They ran once I yelled at them, and no one here would have done that.”

Celes shook her head. “You didn’t tell us this at the meeting?” she chided. “Are you attempting to be uncooperative?”

“As if I would want to agree with Mikan in front of everyone!” Fuyuhiko laughed. “She looked so dumb saying it before that I didn’t want to bring myself to her level.”

“Th-that’s not v-very nice…” Mikan whimpered. 

Fuyuhiko huffed. “I’m just saying the truth of what I felt at the time.”

“Could you distinguish anything from their silhouette?” Celes inquired smoothly. 

“Nothing. It was pretty frustrating. I looked around the school for a while to try and find them, but it seemed like they had disappeared. More likely I just forgot to check something. This damn school is like a maze.”

Celes sighed. “Then we have no leads aside from that we can assume that there is someone else in this school. In that case, I was wondering if perhaps we could get to know each other better. It is good to know your fellow students.”

“Well I don’t want to disappoint you! Y-you’ll probably be disappointed anyway though,” Mikan squeaked. “F-first… in case you forgot, my name is-“

“I did not forget,” Celes said, letting some irritation creep into her voice.

Mikan cried out. “I’m sorry! Uh… in that case, I’m a nurse. I c-can heal you if you ever need it.” An eager and bright look crossed her eyes as she started rambling about her job. “The easiest thing is first aid! I know every kind of bandage and what it’s good for. I can treat almost every heat related condition, so if you freeze in the freezer and get hypothermia-“

“As if,” Fuyuhiko interjected.

“N-not saying you would!” Mikan corrected quickly. “But if you do, I can help. If you get burnt, I can treat that wound! I can also treat many kinds of poisons as long as I have the right materials.”

“Poisons, hmm?” Celes pondered the thought. “Cuts and burns too. Very possible means of death around here. Perhaps I could keep you around to assist me in case of an assassination attempt.”

Mikan nodded vigorously. Fuyuhiko let out a laugh. “Are you claiming that your death is important enough to call an assassination?” 

“What if I said that each and every death here was an assassination? Would that suit you better?”

“I guess,” Fuyuhiko agreed. “Since we are all Ultimates, any harm that would come to us would be big news. If the news was still going…” he paused. Celes understood. She was as mad as anyone else about the Tragedy and its effects. Junko could never be forgiven. However, the gambler decided on simply nodding with a neutral expression instead of showing her anger. There was nothing that could be done. She should listen to her own advice and adapt. It would be the best course of action. But she couldn’t just give up on her dream either… not that she could still achieve it. She was dead. That was as true as the Tragedy. Irreversible. The fleeting memory also reminded her of something else she wanted to ask though.

“I was the third blackened of the killing school life. How did you two do?”

Mikan looked shocked by the sudden change of topic. “W-well… I was also the… the, um… third killer.” She hung her head. “I know what you’re thinking! You must be really mad that a healer killed. In that case, I’ll let you strangle me with my own hair so that you won’t be mad anymore! Wait, what am I saying?” She collapsed to the floor, her previous energy gone as the reality of the situation returned to her. Celes could freely agree that it was as bad as the first time that she had gone through it. Despite this, she still scoffed at Mikan’s undignified breakdown. 

“I survived,” Fuyuhiko cut in, answering the question as well. Celes looked at him and nodded briefly. 

“I am glad for you,” she intoned. Her voice was monotone, her encouragement seeming more like a statement that she had forced past her lips. He was lucky, so lucky that he had gotten to survive. Any other facts of the matter were blocked out by her jealousy that he still could reach a dream. He seemed to notice her changed attitude as he nodded respectfully to her and disengaged from the conversation. Mikan also stood up, awkwardly curtsying as if she didn’t know what else to do, and walked away.

Celes watched as they left. Her mood had changed from neutral climbing to pleased straight to annoyed, slightly mad, and negative. Glancing down, she acknowledged that she had finished her tea. She hadn’t even noticed it happening. After heading to the kitchen and putting away the cup, she went to her room for real. Even as she heard conversation, she didn’t stop. They could all act friendly again, but with everyone having already gone through a mutual killing, they should have known that there was no way out. Kills would come. There was no stopping it. This situation they were in would stick with them for some time longer. Now all that was left was to try and live.

S3: Naegi Makoto  
Naegi walked through the halls at a leisurely pace. There was no hurry. Besides, he had to relax while he still could. Eventually though, he heard someone talking. Their words became clear as he approached them. 

“How do you even have any friends? You’re like a worthless bunny, while everyone else here is much bigger! Even Mikan is a fat pig! She can be useful, unlike you. We can turn her into bacon if we need to! You hardly have any meat on your bones. What will we do with you?”

Naegi turned the corner and saw that it was Hiyoko. Despite her small size, she towered over the sitting Chihiro as she spat insults and yelled. Chihiro looked worried and scared as he sat cornered against a wall. 

Hiyoko continued, completely oblivious to Naegi’s presence. “Oh, and that skirt looks like mud. That sweater looks like my lawn when it hasn’t been mowed in months. Those shoes look like rocks, and they all come together and aren’t even as ugly as your ugly face! I’m going to need to spend my life’s fortune to come up with enough money to buy all the makeup I would need to fix your gross face.”

“Hey, stop that!” Naegi called. Hiyoko turned her head and glared at him. 

“Go away stink brain!” she hissed.

Naegi didn’t have much experience dealing with bullies. After telling them to stop, he ran out of ideas. “Only after you leave Chihiro alone.”

Hiyoko scoffed. “This is so weird. I totally thought that you were the pushover type.”

“Is that really how I come off?” He stuttered in surprise.

The girl grinned, assuming that she had found an opening. “Oh yeah, completely.”

Naegi hesitated, and Chihiro got up. “I’m going to go now… if you don’t mind.”

“Oh I do!” She turned back to him, but he walked past her, quietly thanking Naegi as he went by. Hiyoko glared after him, but ended up leaving while mumbling quietly about bullying Mikan. Naegi sighed, hoping that the inner conflicts wouldn’t build up to something worse. He continued through the halls, deciding to go to the music room to look for Sayaka. After all, he hadn’t seen her in a long time and wanted to talk to her again. It was still slightly weird to think that he could. Maybe there would be school trip students there too. 

He didn’t see anyone else while going through the halls, and he eventually reached the music room. Pushing open the doors, he flinched as loud music started streaming into the halls. Inside, Ibuki was strumming a guitar with such force that it seemed that the strings would all fly off. She was laughing as she did it, not sweetly or maniacally, but in an excited way. Also in the room was Leon. 

Ibuki stopped when she saw the doors fully opened. Grinning, she turned to face Naegi. “Hullo! How’s up? What’s you doing?” She didn’t even let him answer. “Isn’t it cool? Ibuki combined ‘what’s up’ and ‘how you doing’. She thinks she likes ‘how’s up’ better though. Think she should just stick with that one?”

He nodded. “Yeah, hi Ibuki. Uh, that was some loud music.”

She clapped. “Totally was! Ibuki bets that you could hear her from all the way on the first floor!” 

“Probably not that far,” Leon commented. “But I sure know that I would have gone deaf if you had played that for much longer.” He laughed. Ibuki grinned too before starting to play loudly again. Naegi watched her, and though his ears slightly hurt, he didn’t leave. He acknowledged her skill - she was certainly good at this. She was the Ultimate Musician, right? She definitely deserved her title. 

Behind him, footsteps announced others coming into the room. Turning his head, he saw Asahina and Sakura come in. Hina was covering her ears, while Sakura had a more neutral posture. Ibuki stopped playing again once she saw them.

“How’s up? Something wrong?” 

“No,” Sakura responded. “We just heard music while we were in the chem lab and came to see what it was about.”

“Ha! That was Ibuki!” 

“It’s really good but really loud,” Hina complained.

“That’s because she wanted to fill the whole auditorium and more! It’s like a concert, since there is a stage and all. It sorta reminds Ibuki of the last concert she played, which was the one at the island right before… before she died.” She hesitated. “Dying sorta sucks.”

“Yeah right,” Leon grumbled. 

“Um… this is kinda rude, but who killed you?” Hina asked Ibuki. 

“That was Mikan.”

Naegi was surprised. Mikan didn’t seem like the type who would kill. Then again, no one did, and it was all actually Monokuma’s fault. She probably felt that she had to kill. 

“We have to make sure that there are no kills this time,” he said.

“Heck yeah,” Leon agreed. “But this time we have a week long limit before our secrets get outed. Plus other motives he gives us, isn’t that more of an incentive than there was last time?”

“It’ll be harder to find motives,” Sakura stated. “Since we know the state of the outside world, he’ll be more limited when it comes to what we want.”

“Or what we don’t want,” Hina added.

“Aww, come on! Ibuki thinks we should stop talking about death and have fun! There are lots of musical instruments here! Let’s form a band!” She played a cheerful tune, and the others were more than happy to throw off the solemn mood that had fallen. Naegi didn’t know how to play any instruments, so he figured that drums would be simple enough and went over to some that were at the side of the room. Sakura took a seat in the audience, Leon picked up a guitar, and Hina took a flute. They didn’t know what they were doing, but luckily, Ibuki continued her assault on their ears and drowned them all out. 

Eventually, they all sort of settled down. Naegi glanced at a nearby clock, and was surprised to see that it was later than he had thought it was. 

Hina looked too. “Hey guys, wanna go get lunch?”

Sakura nodded. “I am getting rather hungry.”

They all headed out the open door, through the halls, and down the stairs to go get some food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter seemed a bit more rushed. I'm a pretty busy recently, but I wanted to put something out. Besides, I want to get to the more interesting killing / investigation part soon :)


End file.
